Various Artists – The Dutch Woodstock 1970 (2013)

The Holland Pop Festival, also known as the Kralingen Music Festival, was a pop and rock music festival held in the Kralingse Bos, in the Kralingen neighbourhood of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, on 26–28 June 1970.

Performing bands included The Byrds, T. Rex, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and the headlining Pink Floyd. Approximately 100,000 attended. Festival posters show that the festival was billed in Dutch as Pop Paradijs and ‘Holland Pop Festival 70’, and that the main investor was Coca-Cola. In both English and Dutch, the festival is also known by the English name Stamping Ground, and is often billed as the European answer to Woodstock. It took place approximately one year after Woodstock, and two months before the third 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (the first two being held in 1968 and 1969).

The Festival became an influential event, as it turned out to be the actual beginning of the Dutch tolerance policy towards marijuana.[citation needed] The many present undercover cops did not arrest any of the users or small traders: it became clear that there were just too many, and all of them peaceful.

In 1971, a documentary about the festival appeared, titled Stamping Ground, created by Hansjürgen Pohland aka Jason Pohland and George Sluizer. The film was made for an international audience and is also known under the titles Love and Music, and in Germany Rock Fieber. Also, several books and exhibitions have been dedicated to the event. A triple lp-boxset was released in 2010. The Dutch Festival 1970 (Kralingen) was organized by Foundation “Holland Pop Festival” (Piet van Daal, Georges Knap, Toos v.d.Sterre, Berry Visser)

On 21 September 2013, a memorial has been unveiled in the Kralingse Bos area, to commemorate the first multi-day open air popfestival on the European continent. (wikipedia)

Holland Pop was a 3 day musical festival held at the Kralingse Bos (Kralingse Forest) in Rotterdam on June 26, 27, and the 28th, 1970. The festival was supposedly The Netherland’s version of Woodstock. This new release includes 2 cd’s and a 97 minute dvd that captures the many highs of the 3 day festival. The 1st cd is over 53 minutes, while the 2nd cd is almost 58 minutes long. An older version of this festival goes by the name of “Stamping Ground”. Although there were many good groups who played at the festival, this release is hindered by poor sound as well as poor camera work. The saving grace of the whole festival was the excellent performances turned in by most of the groups. You have to really listen hard to hear the performances, but once you do so, you will be rewarded.

Despite the rain, an estimated 120,000 stoned festival goers showed up for the big party. And party they did, as witnessed by the camera work on the dvd, which focused as much on the nude bodies, dope-smoking, and love-making, as it did on the groups, themselves. The musical highlights included a blistering set by Santana, who played “Gumbo”/”Savor” & “Jingo”. All excellently performed but hard on the ears, even with digital noise reduction. Al Stewart turned in a fine performance of “Zero She Flies”, while the rarely recorded group Quintessence turn in a fine version of “Giants”. Canned Heat, which features a rare performance by Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson doing “Human Condition”, which is then followed by Bob Hite, joining the crowd to take a few “tokes”, while performing “The World’s In A Tango/So Sad”.

Marc Bolan, just about ending his days with T.Rex, does a very good version of “By The Light Of The Magical Moon”. It’s A Beautiful Day, who perform during a rainstorm, play an excellent set featuring “Wasted Union Blues” & “Bulgaria”. Great performance by David LaFlamme playing a very trippy violin. The Jefferson Airplane perform fine versions of “White Rabbit”, “The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil”, and “Won’t You Try Saturday Afternoon”. Another rare appearance is turned in by East Of Eden, who play an excellent version of “The Sun Of East/Irish Theme”. From Chicago, we get an excellent version of “Big Bird”, by The Flock, who are also very rare to find in concert.

And moving into a Jazz-Prog-Rock direction, we get Soft Machine, led by Robert Wyatt & Hugh Hopper, playing a fine version of “Esther’s Nose Job”. Other groups who participated are Pink Floyd, The Byrds, Country Joe, and Family, led by the strong vocals of Roger Chapman. All in all, the performances were very good to excellent. It’s indeed unfortunate that the cd sound and poor camera work, probably done by “stoned” photographers, only undermined the fine performances by the artists. Still, however, the set captures a very special moment in time. It could have been so much better, but the original masters were not in the best of condition to begin with. Highly recommended !

Historic live recordings from the Holland Pop Festival held in the Kralingen neighbourhood of Rotterdam, on 26-28 June 1970. The attendance was anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000.

Personnel:

Tracklist:
CD 1:
01. Cuby & The Blizzard: Dust My Blues (James) 4.46
02. Canned Heat: Human Condition (Hite/Wilson) 3.09
03. Canned Heat: So Sad (The World’s In A Tangle) (Domino/Bartholomew) 5.32
04. Livin’ Blues: Big Road Blues (Johnson) 2.41
05. Al Stewart: Zero She Flies (Stewart) 2.20
06. Quintessence: Giants (Raja Jam) 2.39
07. East Of Eden: The Sun Of East (unknown) 15.49
08. East Of Eden: Irish Theme (Jig-A-Jig) (Traditional) 3.20
09. Country Joe And The Fish: Oh Freedom (McDonald) 3.54
10. Dr. John: Mardi Gras Day (Rebenack) 4.31
11. Family: Drowned In Wine (Whitney/Chapman) 4.28

CD 2:
01. Santana: Gumbo (C.Santana/Rolie) 3.58
02. Santana: Savor (C.Santana/Rolie/Areas/Brown/Carabello/Shrieve) 4.29
03. Santana: Jingo (Olatunji) 4.26
04. Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit (Slick) 2.19
05. Jefferson Airplane: The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooniel (Kantner) 3.03
06. It’s A Beautiful Day: Wasted Union Blues (Laflamme) 7.23
07. It’s A Beautiful Day: Bulgaria (Laflamme) 4.02
08. T. Rex: By The Light Of The Magical Moon (Bolan) 3.19
09. The Byrds: Old Blue (Traditional) 3.35
10. The Flock: Big Bird (Smith/Karpman/Glickstein/Canoff/Webb/Posa/Goodman) 4.50
11. Soft Machine: Esther’s Nose Job (Ratledge/Hopper/Wyatt) 6.03
12. Pink Floyd: Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Waters) 3.42
13. Pink Floyd: A Saucerful Of Secrets (Waters/Wright/Mason/Gilmour) 6.22

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Family – It’s Only A Movie (1973)

It’s Only a Movie is the seventh studio album by the British progressive rock band Family, released in 1973, and their last original studio album before they disbanded that year. (by wikipedia)

Rocky Marciano, Dick Van Dyke, and Cary Grant had all known when to quit; so, it proved, did Family. By the middle of 1973, Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney felt it was time to dissolve their group, largely for three reasons. First, there was the lineup; there had been five personnel changes up to that point, meaning that there had been as many replacements as there had been original members. Chapman and Whitney feared that, with so many member turnovers, Family might soon turn into a parody of themselves; indeed, they were becoming notorious for being unable to hold onto a bass player for more than two albums. Secondly, their songwriting was beginning to get formulaic, and they felt that their most innovative ideas had been exhausted. (Chapman: “The choruses came more and more. As you write [songs] you can’t help but standardize yourself.”) Thirdly, they realized that achieving mainstream success in America was a pipedream; though they stirred some interest in the U.S. with Bandstand and their gig with Elton John and had gained a small (but loyal) American audience, that audience was too small to sustain them stateside. And so Family would call it a day – but not before recording a final album and supporting it with a farewell tour.

The final lineup of Family, 1973. From left:
Rob Townsend, Tony Ashton, Jim Cregan, Charlie Whitney, Roger Chapman

That album, It’s Only a Movie, is Family’s loosest and most relaxed work. With nothing more to prove, Chapman, Whitney, and Rob Townsend decided it was time to have fun with the music and stop being so damn serious. New members Jim Cregan and Tony Ashton were certainly game as well. This time Family went back to the roots of rock and roll, finding their inspiration in the carefree sounds of ragtime, Dixieland, and country, with a little New Orleans soul thrown in. It was an affectionate exploration of the various forms of American popular music that had always intrigued and inspired them. At times this record sounds like a mediocre Band album, and other times it recalls Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection LP (which, to be honest, is the same thing as a mediocre Band album). But because this is a Family LP, It’s Only a Movie also throws in a couple of curves as well to keep the music interesting.

When I first heard It’s Only a Movie, the group member who stood out the most to me, surprisingly, was keyboardist Tony Ashton. Ashton, like Cregan, had been recruited to help Family honor concert commitments, and although he probably knew that his gig with Family would be a one-album deal, he plays on this album with more effort and panache than he really has to. Ashton, who sadly died of cancer in the spring of 2001 at the age of 55, was a rowdy pianist who could play great boogie riffs and handled ragtime, honky tonk, and Old West saloon styles with skill and flair. I maintain that drummer Rob Townsend was the group’s only virtuoso, but Ashton gave Townsend a pretty good run for the money on this record!

Alas, the same can’t be said for bassist Jim Cregan. Cregan has primarily been a rhythm guitarist for much of his career – he was Rod Stewart’s rhythm guitarist (and occasional songwriting collaborator) from 1977 to 1995, by the way – so although he could easily adapt to the bass because it is a rhythmic instrument, his bass playing is somewhat pedestrian. There are no bass lines on It’s Only a Movie that stand out the way bass lines on previous Family albums do. To be fair, though, Cregan did get the job done by giving the songs on It’s Only a Movie consistent, if unspectacular, pacing.

For all its charms, though, It’s Only a Movie has one bad song, so I’ll dispense with that right away. “Boom Bang,” the first of two singles on the album, is a lyrically vulgar rocker dealing with various ways male members of different species get sexually aroused. Chapman delivers a fiery vocal here (elsewhere on the album, he’s considerably restrained), the band offers up a solid arrangement, and Linda Lewis provides some incredible backup vocal pyrotechnics, but it . . . just . . . doesn’t . . . work. It’s a good performance that can’t save a bad song. Call it dysfunctional Family.

The rest of It’s Only a Movie, though, is an enjoyable hoot. Many of the songs are about ambition and frustration, and Family arrange them quite nicely with a basic roadhouse band sound delicately embellished by horns and strings. The LP starts off with the title song, a tale of an old-time movie director making a Western and being unable to develop the story properly. Ashton’s smoky saloon piano and various sound effects – gunshots, horses – provide a nice, jokey Old West atmosphere. Whitney’s heavy electric riff carries a good deal of “It’s Only a Movie,” and the humorous spoken-word narration that interrupts the lyrics shows just how befuddled everyone involved with this imaginary Western is.

The album’s two best songs are about the desire for something better in life and to put down some kind of roots, even if it’s not necessarily possible. “Buffet Tea for Two,” finds Chapman’s narrator walking out on a worn-out relationship with a woman and starting over; some strident guitar, moderate orchestration, and Ashton’s dexterous ivory tickling give the song a laid-back LA rock feel. “Boots ‘n’ Roots,” presumably about a traveling hobo in the American hinterlands, starts with Ashton’s piano before abruptly starting over with a new arrangement, which features some tart guitar playing with each note bristling against one another; it melds well with Chapman’s deadpan vocal. (The horns at the beginning that sample “Wait ‘Til the Sun Shines, Nellie” are a nice touch!)

Much of the remainder of It’s Only a Movie is good, inconsequential fun that shows Family lightening up more than they’d ever done before, except maybe on a couple of their earlier singles. “Banger,” a safe-sounding instrumental with a risque title, suggests a late-night jam session in some Bourbon Street club. “Sweet Desiree,” the second single on the album, is slow Dixieland with some boisterous harmonies and callback vocals, with a bit of hot funk thrown in at the end, and the similar “Suspicion” is an effervescent tune that sounds like what Loggins and Messina might have come up with if they hadn’t been so mellow. The closing tune, the appropriately titled “Check Out,” is a sharp rocker about an escaped convict on the lam; a crunchy guitar riff powers the song, with Ashton’s bright organ and Linda Lewis’s soaring backup vocal helping it glide along. Then it builds up in intensity toward the end, and just when you think it’s coming to a grand finish, it fades out instead. Typical Family.

It’s Only a Movie was a respectable way to bow out, and Family’s farewell tour in the fall of 1973, which featured some exciting shows, topped off their career with panache. The very last concert was held in – where else? – Leicester on October 13, and those who saw it clearly remember Family going out with a bang (though the band members themselves probably don’t remember it so clearly). (by Steven Maginnis)

Personnel:
Tony Ashton (keyboards, background vocals)
Roger Chapman (vocals)
Jim Cregan (bass)
Rob Townsend (drums, percussion)
John “Charlie” Whitney (guitar, banjo)
+
Peter Hope-Evans (harmonica)

Tracklist:
01. It’s Only A Movie (Chapman/Whitney) 5.07
02. Leroy (Chapman/Whitney) 5.40
03. Buffet Tea For Two (Chapman/Whitney) 5.20
04. Boom Bang (Chapman/Whitney) 3.02
05. Boots ‘n’ Roots (Chapman/Whitney) 5.01
06. Banger (instrumental) (Chapman/Whitney) 3.05
07. Sweet Desiree (Chapman/Whitney) 3.40
08. Suspicion (Chapman/Whitney) 3.22
09. Check Out (Chapman/Whitney/Cregan) 4.32
+
10. Hometown (Chapman/Whitney) 3.10
11. Holding The Compass (live) (Chapman/Whitney) 2.22
12. The Weaver’s Answer (live) (Chapman/Whitney) 4.49
13. Dim (live) (Chapman/Whitney) 1.21
14. Procession / No Mule’s Fool (live) (Chapman/Whitney) 4.51

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Family – Music In A Doll´s House (1968)

Music in a Doll’s House is the debut album by English progressive rock group Family, released on 19 July 1968. The album, co-produced by Dave Mason of Traffic,[3] features a number of complex musical arrangements contributing to its ambitious psychedelic sound.

The Beatles had originally intended to use the title A Doll’s House for the album they were recording during 1968. The release of Family’s similarly titled debut then prompted them to adopt the minimalist title The Beatles for what is now more commonly referred to as The White Album due to its plain white sleeve.

“Old Songs, New Songs” features a cameo from the Tubby Hayes group.

The album was the first of its kind by an English rock group on the US Reprise label set up for Frank Sinatra. It was licensed to the label by Dukeslodge Enterprises, a company run by the band’s manager, John Gilbert, who also acted as ‘executive producer’ of the album. The album was released on vinyl in two different guises: mono (RLP6312) and stereo (RSLP6312) and Stereo 8 Track Cartridge. Mono vinyl copies featured a different mix to the stereo pressing and many mono copies were returned to the shops as they often skipped tracks. The mono edition was swiftly withdrawn, making this a much sought-after format.

This album was initially issued in the US using the UK import and sold in the US as a domestic album with an extra piece of cardboard to stiffen the sleeve (as they essentially had the same catlog number in both countries). Around the time the second album was issued in the US, US pressings of this album started to appear. (The album also initially had a 12″ black and white photo of group included as an insert.)

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album ranked number 30 in its list of “40 Cosmic Rock Albums”.(by wikipedia)

The non-LP single “Scene Through the Eye of a Lens” b/w “Gypsy Woman” not withstanding, Music in a Doll’s House (1968) is the debut full-length release from the earliest incarnation of Family, featuring Roger Chapman (harmonica/tenor sax/vocals), Rick Grech (violin/ cello/bass guitar/vocals), Rob Townsend (percussion/drums), John “Charlie” Whitney (guitar/pedal steel guitar/keyboards), and Jim King (harmonica/keyboards/soprano sax/tenor sax/vocals). Their highly original sound has often been compared to Traffic, which may be in part due to the production skills of Jimmy Miller and Dave Mason, the latter also contributing the organic and rootsy rocker “Never Like This.” Additionally, neither band was overtly psychedelic or progressive, contrasting them from the other burgeoning combos such as Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, and Caravan. Family’s deceptively involved arrangements are coupled with an equally unique blend of Chapman’s commanding vocals driving through the jazz and folk-rooted tunes. “The Chase” is a spirited opener that immediately establishes their unmistakable vibe, which is furthered on the sides “Old Songs for New Songs” and the aggressive rocker “Peace of Mind.” The antithesis can be heard on the rural-flavored “Mellowing Grey” and “Winter,” or perhaps the almost blatantly trippy “See Through Windows.”(by Lindsay Planer)

The original inner sleeve

Personnel:
Roger Chapman (vocals, harmonica, saxophone)
Ric Grech (bass, vocals, violin, cello)
Jim King (saxophone, vocals, harmonica)
Rob Townsend (drums, percussion)
John “Charlie” Whitney (guitar)
+
Dave Mason (mellotron)

Tracklist:
01. The Chase (Whitney/Chapman) 2.24
02. Mellowing Grey (Whitney/Chapman) 2.59
03. Never Like This (Mason) 2.29
04. Me My Friend (Whitney/Chapman) 2.09
05. Variation On A Theme of Hey Mr. Policeman (instrumental) (Whitney/Chapman) 0:25
06. Winter (Whitney/Chapman) 2.37
07. Old Songs New Songs (Whitney/Chapman) 4.14
08. Variation On A Theme Of The Breeze (instrumental) (Whitney/Chapman) 0.36
09. Hey Mr. Policeman (Whitney/Grech/Chapman) 3.21
10. See Through Windows (Whitney/Chapman4.07
11. Variation On A Theme Of Me My Friend (instrumental) (Whitney) 0.20
12. Peace Of Mind (Whitney/Chapman) 2.31
13, Voyage (Whitney/Chapman) 3.53
14. The Breeze (Whitney/Chapman) 2.57
15. 3 x Time + God Save The Queen (hidden Track) (Whitney/Chapman) 3.51

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The Reissue Edition: